Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128367
Briefly... Local Billy Russell Wins Quicksilver National Enduro th nearly week's worth storms W,pounding a California, theof biggest question leading up to the fi~t round of the AMNFMF Racing National Enduro Series in Coalinga, Sunday, February 21, was: Would it even happen at all? Official word didn't come down the pipe until 5 p.m. on Saturday that the Quicksilver National would, in fact, get under way on schedule. The BLM gave the Salinas Ramblers Motorcycle Club permission to run the event but forced it to cancel the third loop and move the start time back an hour. After all was said and done, local fast guy Billy Russell proved that spending last year following the series had indeed made him a faster rider, as he took the overall win on his Maxima/Maxxis/Fox-sponsored KTM 2S0, dropping 20 points for a c1earcut victory over the field. It was his first career National win. "For as much as it rained, it was actually good conditions; it's not super bad," Russell said, a sentiment echoed by other top racers, though not shared by the many Band C riders who DNFed and victims of the mudholes, tricky ascents or simple fatigue. Tim Taber rode his KTM 250 to the early lead, zeroing the first two checks and dropping three at the third check, with CRF250X-mounted Matt Stavish and Russell right behind with 0-1-4 and 0-1-5 scorecards. respectively. Taber also fought his way out of a mud hole that claimed many. losing 12 minutes in that section, while 155 were the norm. But it went out the win- dow for Taber at the start of the second loop, as a cunning- ly placed check right after the gas stop caught him - and many othe~ - early. Russell, Stavish and Mike Lafferty all zeroed it, and Russell's clean second loop gave him the win. Stavish dropped four points and ended up second overall with H points, his best overall finish at the Quicksilver. KTM's David Lykke successfully protested a mileage error Hodgson left the Laguna Seca test to head for hopefully sunny Southern California, where he's going to rent a house for his wife and infant daughter. "Sunny LA I'm well excited about that. Up at 6 a.m. to go there. Cruise down the 5. What's going to be weird is just getting to Laguna Beach and driving around and thinking 'This is well nice, I'm going to be living around here.''' The scenery is a world apart from his home on the somewhat less sunny, less warm and less dry Isle of Man. near the end, boosting him to third overall with 25. Throttlehead.com Kawasaki's Steve Hatch bested KTM's Lafferty on the tiebreaker to earn fourth place with 26 points. Mark KDriya Testing Scramble Bad weather at the two final tests in Fontana and Monterey in California sent the AMA road race teams scrambling to find test days. With rain washing out a day at California Speedway and a day at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, Yamaha looked to add a day by going to Willow Springs on the weekend of February 19-20, though not everyone was happy about it. ''I'm not that pleased about that because I was told that if we get in any time at Laguna, we wouldn't need to go to Willow Springs," Yamaha's Damon Buckmaster said. ''As it turns out, Jamie [Hacking] needs more time. Ducati Austin's Neil Hodgson remembe~ Jason DiSalvo from his days racing in the UK. The DiSalvo that Hodgson has been watching while testing at Daytona and Laguna Seca is different than the one he remembers. "I'm impressed with him," Hodgson said, "because he came to the UK, so I know him a little bit. He was this young kid who seemed mediocre really. I wouldn't have overnlted him. I've got to say, I saw him at Daytona. I saw him here. That guy's got some talent. Watch him on the bike: He looks really in control of what he's doing. He hits the apex, stands the bike up a bit, accelenltes hard, slides it. I think he's the future. Of everybody I seen, I'm most impressed with him," One thing led to another, and now we're doing it." To make up for lost time. Yamaha has entered its four riders in the Championship Cup Series weekend that kicks off Daytona's Bike Week the week before the 200. Each of the riders is entered in the 2oo-mile team challenge, which will be used strictly for testing purposes. They'll also be entered in as many of the CCS sprints as possible. Hacking looks to benefit the most. The former Supersport Champion missed the January Daytona tire test while recovering from collarbone surgery. There are two significant downsides. First is cost. The team has to be in Daytona on Thursday, rather than the following Monday afternoon, when they're typically allowed in. The second is the number of slower riders on track. With no CCS points, the Yamaha ride~ will be forced to start in the back of the field, making for a few eXCiting corners. if not laps. Henny Ray Abrams Billy Russell was the surprise winner at the opening round of the AMA/FMF National Enduro Series in Coalinga, California. No Tire Woes for 2005 Tire management shouldn't be an issue at Daytona International Speedway for the Superbike riders this year, according to five-time AMA Superbike Champion Mat Mladin. "The way I look at the race, honestly, is if Dunlop have been doing some work with tires and that sort of stuff, and the tires last year, the safety aspect ofthe tires last year was very good," he said. "The way I look at things this year. I think Dunlop will have it under control, I have no doubt about that. They've been working very hard for the last 18 months, and also we used the banking IS times instead of I 14 times this year. For me the safety factor has gone through the roof on a percentage ratio. pretty easy to work it out, the percentage ratio has gone through the roof by about 760 percent. And in saying that, you never know, anything can happen. We're not off the banking that I'd like to see us off. We're off the one that in history hasn't really caused too much problem as far as any type of failures or anything. We still use the East Banking and the tri-oval, but again, we're off one of them and that's the main thing. And we're only doing 15 laps, which suits me fine. If they wanted to make it 10, I'd even be happier. "Modern motorcycles have outgrown the facility," Mladin continued. "I understand the history with Daytona. I unde~tand what Daytona's all about. But unfortunately, we can't live with history. We can't live in the past. We have to look towards the future. If they're going to grow the sport, they need start looking to the future, not to the past," Henny Ray Abrams What's in the future for AMA Superbike racing? How about a return to Loudon? That was the word around the pits during testing at Laguna Seca. The word was that New Hampshire International Speedway was willing to make whatever changes it would take to get back in the AMl>:s good graces. They've finally realized that calling a Formula USA event the Loudon Classic doesn't necessarily make it so, and the nlCing fan is sophisticated enough to tell the difference. Considering how bitter the split was, a new layout might not be enough supplication. Someone who claims to have seen a dnlwing of the new layout didn't think it would fly with the ride~. American Honda's AI Ludington, Miguel Duhamel's crew chief, doesn't think the ~s new rules for pit stops in the Formula Xtreme Daytona 200 should be that much of a hindrance. "We think it should take I I to 12 seconds [for two tires and a tank of fuel]," Ludington said. "We're roughly at I S seconds right now." One of the bigger holdups is that the stock fuel tank, at stock capacity, has a single dry brake that doesn't vent like the one on the Superbike. The double dry brake tank takes about five to seven seconds to fill. How many pit stops they'll need is a matter of some debate. During the recent tire test, the Honda CBR600RR made 23 laps on a tank of fuel and easily did 26 laps on a set of tires. With the race being 68 laps, that's one less than it would take two full gas tanks to make. "I don't see doing it in two stops," Ludington said. "I see at least three," The stock tank exhibits some signs of fuel starvation with 4.5 lite~ remaining in the tank. "One thing we're hoping to achieve here is to send Miguel out with 4 liters and see where he runs out." Continued on page " CYCLE NEWS • MARCH 2, 2005 9